In many conventional bale wagons, vertical slices of bales (e.g., a four-by-four array) are formed at the front of the bale wagon. Then, two flat tables mounted at the front of the bale wagon are pivoted from the horizontal to the vertical, at which point they engage the front surface of the vertical slice. The flat tables then translate rearwardly, pushing the vertical slice and any previously loaded vertical slices into position against tines which move backwardly in the bale wagon as it is loaded. The flat tables then return to the front of the bale wagon and are pivoted out of the way, after which the procedure is repeated to load the next slice. As will be appreciated, the bale wagon is thus loaded from front to back.
When the bale wagon is full, the bed is pivoted about an axis at the rear of the wagon to unload the entire load of hay. However, the bale wagon cannot be unloaded a bale at a time (except manually). That is, there is no mechanism permitting the procedure to be reversed, feeding the stacked bales forward and offloading a bale at a time. Additionally, the apparatus for mounting and pivoting the flat tables is heavy and cumbersome, taking up a significant portion of the bale wagon length which could otherwise be used for transporting bales.